The SWAMP REVIEW
A Dystopian Hellscape:
Helldivers 2
a review by Betsabe Schmidt
Prosperity, liberty, democracy.
These words echo in your mind as your pod drops to the flaming planet below. Your team is already on the ground, scrambling to call down supplies as the SUV-sized insects swarm. As you land, you feel the hot, heavy air fill your lungs. You wonder, “Why am I here?” and push the thought out of your mind. There’s only one thing that matters. Not your fear. Not your pain. Not even your life. The only thing that matters is fighting for the freedom of Super Earth and our way of life.
Helldivers 2 is a third-person shooter game where players battle enemies on different planets, often in teams of four. The fascination in this game for me is its role as political satire. In this universe, planet Earth is united as one under the title Super Earth, with a government system known as “managed democracy.” As the name implies, the super earth government presents a form of freedom while retaining absolute control. The oligarchy does this through relentless propaganda, controlled elections, and suppressing free speech. The online community also plays a large role in furthing the satire and blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. Indeed, how far is our own country from becoming its own managed democracy?
Personally, I love the propaganda. In the player’s personal battleship, where they can find all the gear, game currency, and mission options, government ads play on the ship screen and over the intercom. Here are some of the most entertaining:
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“Prosperity, liberty, democracy... Our way of life.”
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“The Federation of Super Earth keeps managed Democracy safe with the lives of our heroes.”
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“Become part of an elite peace-keeping force.”
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“Spread managed Democracy throughout the galaxy."
(Source: https://medium.com/@chandankumar34803/20-helldivers-2-quotes-for-fun-and-inspiration-d1d2643e0b5d)
Citizenship plays an interesting role in the game as well. As a Helldiver, you are a Super Earth citizen. Similar to the movie, Starship Troopers, only those in military service are citizens and have the right to vote. Even then, there are voting officers and state of the art algorithms in place to help your character vote. Why such a fancy voting system? Clearly, you are being told how to vote, and if you vote wrong, there’s still an algorithm to help direct your vote to where it needs to go.
The final freedom that Helldivers 2 brazenly strangles is the freedom of speech. In one of the recurring tips on the loading screen, players are warned to report any anti-democratic sentiments to their democracy officer. In gameplay, radios and intercom messages on enemy planets decry the war crimes Super Earth has committed in the name of “liberation.” You are instructed to destroy these transmissions as an objective. Many online influencers and game commentators try to extrapolate the lore behind what happened between Super Earth and their enemies the bugs, automatons, and cyborgs, but again the online community buys into the propaganda. In the video comments, dozens of players will denounce the video and comment, “I’ll be reporting this to my local democracy officer” and similar comments. Often these comments will get more likes than the original video!
The political satire displayed in Helldivers 2 is of amazing appeal during gameplay and players from around the world love buying into it wholeheartedly. This is definitely intentional, as the game is unique in that every player on the globe in real-time is playing on the same server. Players can feel like they are truly a part of Super Earth as they can see the planet from their ship and how many players are playing in that moment, and how much of the galaxy has been liberated. A player isn’t just playing a game, they really are a member of this society. Of special interest to the community is game master Joel, a real person who determines the main objectives and the spawning rates of enemies on planets. The online community hates and loves Joel, as he is the one who can make players win or lose and adds to the intrigue of the game. The objectives that Joel gives need to be won, so it produces the effect that hundreds of thousands of people playing this game truly become an army to meet their general’s goals.
Overall, this is such a compelling game to me for the sake of satire alone. There’s so much more that could be said besides what’s in this short essay. I don’t even play the game; honestly, I am terrible at video games. I just watch my husband play and hear all the propaganda from the TV. I love it so much. In a larger sense, besides entertainment, the game is worthy of reflection and comparison to our modern society. Where do we see free speech being attacked? How often are conversations shut down in favor of political slogans? Are our elections fairly representing our citizens' wishes? Who has power in our society, do all citizens, or only the privileged few? Although an entertaining pastime, we should pause and consider how our daily life reflects that of the tyrannical, “managed” democracy of Helldivers 2.
The game character one plays lives and breathes this propaganda. During battle, the character shouts out slogans that center around Super Earth’s core values. After being wounded, they might say, “Sweet liberty, my arm!” or, “Liberty, save meee!” In fact, this propaganda is so effective, the online community will often be found repeating these quotes in online forums. It’s hard to question the Super Earth government with such effective propaganda.
A Helldiver Giving a Thumbs-Up
Betsabe Schmidt teaches Chemistry at Decatur High School. She graduated with a BA in Chemistry from PLU and earned a Master's in Education the following year. Although a scientist, she enjoys dabbling in the humanities disciplines as well.